Review of modern concepts in the engineering interpretation of earthquake response spectra

The design response spectrum is typically the starting point of most codified seismic design and assessment procedures and is used predominantly to prescribe the applied inertia forces induced by earthquake ground motions. This paper introduces and reviews modern concepts related to the effective development and application of earthquake design response spectra, including the conventional acceleration response spectrum, the velocity spectrum, and the displacement spectrum. It further briefly reviews the concepts of the inelastic response spectrum and the capacity spectrum. A number of the ideas presented are targeted particularly at assisting practising engineers working in low- and moderate-seismicity environments. The principal purpose is to enlighten engineers to modern concepts in response spectra development, in order to subsequently facilitate the effective use of the information contained in an earthquake response spectrum for both analysis and design applications.